Morphometric and volumetric analysis of lateral ventricles by magnetic resonance imaging: a study on age and gender

Background This study aims to investigate the morphometric and volumetric characteristics of the lateral ventricles in relation to age and gender using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Materials and methods A total of 212 subjects (106 males, 106 females) underwent 3 Tesla MRI scanning. Axial T2-weighted images were analyzed using Myrian 2.7.1 software. Measured parameters included ventricular length, width, volume, anterior horn distance, and brain width. Ratio indices-ventricular width/hemisphere width and anterior horn distance/brain width-were also calculated. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS v26.0 with appropriate parametric and non-parametric tests. Results The volumes (cm(3)), lengths (mm), widths (mm) of the ventricles were measured as follows: in females, 5.13-4.54, 69.10-66.85, 8.35-8.23, and in males, 5.51-4.92, 66.10-64.80, 8.95-8.67 (left-right). No significant gender differences were observed in ventricular volumes, lengths, and widths (p > 0.05). However, significant age-related variations were noted in these parameters (p < 0.001), with moderate positive correlations identified between the width/hemisphere ratios of both right and left ventricles and their respective volumes, as well as between the anterior horn's distance/brain width ratio and total ventricular volume (p < 0.001). Conclusions Lateral ventricular enlargement was clearly age-related, especially in older individuals. Sex showed limited impact on ventricular morphology. Ratio-based metrics proved useful in proportionally reflecting ventricular changes and may serve as reliable tools in clinical neuroimaging. This study offers normative data on lateral ventricle size in a Turkish population using standardized 3T MRI protocols. The findings may assist in distinguishing normal aging from pathological enlargement and support the use of ventricle-to-brain ratios in clinical evaluation.

Journal

SURGICAL AND RADIOLOGIC ANATOMY

Year

2025

Volume

47

Issue

1

ISSN

0930-1038

eISSN

1279-8517

DOI

10.1007/s00276-025-03766-x

WoS UID

WOS:001606873100002